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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Pinterest Fail!

About a week ago I wrote about taking supper to a friend recovering from surgery, but I did not include everything I took her. I made a cake that is going around Pinterest right now and just in case you see it and think ," Oh my what a simple way to make coconut cake. Sounds delicious, I must try it now", DON'T!

Easy Coconut Cake

Bake a yellow cake mix according to the package directions. While the cake is still warm, poke holes in it with a wooden spoon handle. Combine 1 cup of cream of coconut with 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk. Pour it into the holes of the warm cake. Let the cake cool then put it in the refrigerator until it is cold. Spread Cool Whip* over the top and cut into squares to serve.

This tasted slightly of coconut, but flavor of the milk overpowered it.. It was mushy and not at all appetizing and was not visually attractive.

There are countless variations of this cake on Pinterest right now, coconut, banana pudding, chocolate overload and german chocolate just to name a few. I have tried 3 of them and 2 out of 3 are really not good. You might wonder why any sane person would try it after having a bad experience with it before. Let me explain the reasoning behind my madness.

I tried the chocolate overload first, because I am a chocolate freak. The process is the same as for the coconut cake with the following substitutions. Use a swiss chocolate cake mix and mix chocolate fudge ice cream topping with the sweetened condensed milk and pour it over the cake. Top with whipped topping. The result was a gooey messy cake with no real substance to it. The sweetened condensed milk diluted the chocolate flavor and all you really taste is sweetness. Not what I was looking for.

The second cake was the german chocolate version. Again the method is the same, but use a german chocolate cake mix and mix 1/2 cup caramel topping, 1/2 cup butterscotch topping and the sweetened condensed milk. Toast 1 cup of pecan halves and arrange on top of the cake after pouring the sweet goodness over it. Again spread whipped stuff on the top. This one was delicious. The caramel, butterscotch and the milk flavors were complimentary. None fought with the other for the pronounced flavor. The toasted nuts added to the texture and gave another flavor component. It was kind of like eating a cake "Turtle". I made it for 2 different events and it got rave reviews both times.

I suppose that is why I was hopeful for the coconut cake. If you really want to make it, toast some coconut and spread it on the cake prior to using the Cool Whip*.

The only upside I can think of for this dessert is the plates I used to serve the cake. Several years ago I was looking through Tuesday Morning. I like to go and rummage through their home items because once in a while you stumble on something you have never seen before that screams for you to purchase it. Such was the case with these plates. I can't stress my disdain for things that are Melamie other than the practicality of using them outside. I don't like the way they feel or sound or anything about them, unless they are rectangular maroon plates with Elvis on them. That changes everything disagreeable about the dishes into a "must have". There were 2 of them siting together and after about a half hour of searching I found 2 more stragglers. I NEED at least 8 more but think it probably will not happen. I did take another shot so you can see The King's head poking out from the top of the cake.

Such a waste when dessert comes and the only thing exciting is young Elvis!

* Cool Whip rant: Why would anyone want to use it when whipped cream takes just a couple of minutes to make. You can use about half as much because it is such a richer taste. Rant over.